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Haven't seen anything here about this weird beast in quite a while. I'm "boarding" one for a friend (well, actually, he left it with me by mistake last weekend), and with his permission I set the thing up on my Lenco. EVERYTHING about this tonearm is strange:* It just sits on the armboard, unattached in any way, can be moved around at will.
* The counterweight hangs straight down from the rear of the arm, swinging in the breeze
* It has a straight arm, no offset, no anti-skating provision, no arm-lifter, and no overhang
* Appearance-wise, it looks sorta like a praying mantis, its flat "armtube" swooping down from a very tall pivot post (it's an undamped unipivot)
* Its "headshell" SWIVELS with a ~12 degree arc
* A cartridge can only be attached from underneath -- threaded carts can't be mounted (however, I managed to use a Pickering P-mount on it by reaming out the holes in the p-mount adapter)So how does it sound? Just amazing. I have the same cart on a second SME arm (two arms are mounted on the same table) and can A/B them via a switcher. This is after a one-day trial, mind you, but so far the RS-A1 gets EVERYTHING right, even as it looks goofy as hell while doing so. Personally, I couldn't handle the hair-shirt aspects of this arm, but I think it's fabulous. Others may well disagree :-)
Follow Ups:
...about how it could take a whole night for him to adjust the headshell and wires, so that it actually does some swivelling when dropped in the groove? And then he has to redo it every few months?
I think it was here or on Audiogon.Mine has pretty much always stayed in the same position when playing as in the resting position, no matter how it's been adjusted.
What's your experiences with this? Do your headshells ever straighten out to follow the tangent of the groove?
...I'm not sure it's important that it rotates that easily.Quoted from our master, arm designer Shirou Horii:
"3. Arm Resonance...
...The problem 3 appears as a common needle talk, but I think it is an essential problem about tone arm design. What gave me the solution on this matter is the rotating head shell that I designed 3 years ago. It succeeded in principle to separate the cartridge from the arm mass on horizontal vibration."
Yes, I figured from what I've read about the arm that this was mainly for decoupling purposes rather than to compensate in some way for the lack of offset. However, NOTHING would surprise me about this thing!
Good job starting this thread. I've got an RS-A1 and I love its sound.It's been an expensive tonearm for me. Cost of tonearm + cost of two Denon 103Rs + one Shelter 501 II. Believe it or not, I still think it's worth it. My suggestion is to tape it down with double edge tape and be extremely careful with the weight of the interconnects hanging off it.
I used to use a chop stick and now I use the back of a stylus brush to lower it into place. I should probably keep a breathalyser next to the thing to grant my access < 3 drinks...
I'm curious about your rewire. I'd considered it, but Rob at Applause (who's no stranger to rewiring) advised against it. How has its "sonic character" changed?
... must be addressed to someone else. The one I'm playing with is bone stock.
I was at an audio shop where the *big system* was in the *back room*. That day it included some huge Nottingham TT using the RS-A1 tonearm with a expensive Shelter catridge.I had just finished a conversation with the owner reassuring him I knew my way around a TT and he didn't have to worry about me hand cueing. He was concerned because someone apparently had recently destroyed a expensive cartridge and made off without as much as a word.
So I get the OK and head back. Well you can imagine how I nearly died when upon putting down the needle the damn cartridge momentarilly makes like it's going to flip on its side!... I had no idea about the unipoint in the headshell of the RS-A1.
Unnerving, but it seems the method is avoid the widely spaced lead in groves and more or less drop in right at the point where the music begins.
Did sound great, but like you I don't think I could live with the *hair-shirt aspects*.
:(
From your description, I'm willing to bet the dealer you're talking about is Applause in Toronto. The proprieter told me of one customer who mistook the magnetic armrest for a cueing lever and flipped the entire arm off the deck! He also says, flat out, that's it's the best tonearm ever made. Granted, as a dealer, he has a vested interest in saying so, but at the time he knew that I already owned an RS-A1 (bought used) so he had nothing to gain by hyping the arm, and I'm sure he clears more of a profit from some of the other arms he carries.
Haven't been their in a while, Rob has closed the storefront and apparently is operating by appointment only from his apartment.
No Guru, No Method, No Teacher
Yes, putting the stylus into the lead-in groove with this thing requires something special in eye-hand coordination. I've found the safest way is to use a thin soda straw under the "hook" to guide the arm to and from the LP :-)
I've owned more than one RS-Labs tonearm and have noted:The horizontal spacing in the drilled/tapped headshell threads that hold the cartridge aren't always correct; I've had to instigate a couple of recalls with the manufacturer; the headshell threads always need to be tapped out as these are too tight ( metric tap ) and have "flash" (scrap alloy) in the threads that needs to be cleaned up too (a disaster in the making if a 1/10th of a gram of alminum crap drops onto a disc and trashes a diamond )
The vertical point that sits in a brass cup that holds the arm loses its point and needs to be polished, as does the brass cup, with sufficient use
The vertical pins that hold the headshell always have had insufficient torque and seldom are correctly centred, more "blueprinting" neededThere are better tonearm wires, I've rewired my RS Labs arm with Discovery cable
Well Sorted; the RS Labs arm is a revelation and will track like a trooper, sounds more musical and dynamic than an SME V ( with no holes to drill in your turntable )
Out-of-the-box unsorted; it can be an God-awful messGrins
The one I'm playing with exhibits none of the problems you cite, nor any of the azimuth tilt that Art Dudley complained of in his "Listener" review.There are obviously ways to attach it to a deck once you think you have it positioned properly (silicone cement comes to mind). But "mine" is staying put, despite being connected to some fairly robust phono cables. Another odd thing -- there's no ground connection at all, yet it exhibits zero hum, at least in my setup.
They have redesigned the arm. The basic design is unchanged, but the edges are rounded to give it a more "finished" look. I think they changed the counterweights used to set VTF so they don't fall off as easily (those little things are a bugger to find when the land on the floor!) and there's also something that prevents the arm from doing a 360 (or 720, or 1080) if it gets knocked. It wouldn't surprise me if they've also improved QC. I'm sure it's still a PITA, though.
Is the base extremely heavy or something?
Empire 208/RS Labs/Brass mat
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